At puberty, boys can have too much chest fat deposited causing the condition known as gynecomastia. This then resolves itself in most cases. However, it often occurs later in men and is more common in men who have a tendency to gain weight. Many foods contain phytoestrogens which can cause chest fat to accumulate.
Depositing fat around the body is largely a chance event, with fat cells randomly distributed by gender as much as anything else. However, hormones are largely to blame for these fats being deposited in certain places; for women, estrogen stimulates the accumulation of additional fat in the breasts, hips, buttocks, and thighs, while testosterone in men causes fat to be deposited on the chest, also depositing fat on the buttocks and abdomen.
Over 300 plants contain estrogens which, if ingested in large amounts, can cause chest fat to develop. Phytoestrogens are divided into different classes, including isoflavins, lignans, saponins, and courmestans. Isoflavins are commonly found in legumes, soybeans, and various soy products, while lignans are present in cereal bran, legumes, and alcohol, especially beer and bourbon.
Estrogens are also present in flaxseed. The plant structure of saponins is very similar to the steroid hormones estrogen, progesterone, and the various androgens, all of which can cause the development of chest fat. The courmestans, meanwhile, are found in clover and alfalfa. Many of these foods contain more than one class of phytoestrogens.
Men who drink large amounts of beer over a period of time, in addition to a diet rich in soy products, and include many vegetables such as baked beans in their diets are more likely to develop gynecomastia, or chest fat, than men whose diets avoid largely these foods. Below is a list of some of the more common foods that contain estrogen:
- Alfalfa
- chickpeas
- cherries
- Parsley
- Licorice
- mung bean
- whole grains
- Soy
- Rye
- Buckwheat
- Darling
- sesame seeds and sunflower seeds
- Vegetables and Beans
- korean ginseng
- wild sweet potato
- Fenugreek
- beth root
- root vegetables
- sonacean family
- Grain
Many of these foods are present in more than one of the estrogen-containing group. Foods containing saponins, for example, are thought to interact with the hypothalamus and pituitary hormones, which explains the link between chest fat and estrogen and the acid/alkaline balance of food. Nervous control to control appetite and many other metabolic functions is the hypothalamus. Neurotransmitters, or chemical messengers, are sent from the hypothalamus to tell you when to eat, how much, and most importantly, what to eat.
One of these neurotransmitters is serotonin, which regulates food cravings and appetite. Another is galanin, which affects fat storage – the more galanin your body produces, the more fat we store on our bodies, including chest fat. Food must be properly broken down in the stomach by hydrochloric acid to prevent these acidic food problems. When acidic waste remains in the body’s systems, it eventually results in the thyroid gland becoming underactive. This, in turn, affects our body’s metabolism and can lead to weight gain.
The hypothalamus undermines your weight-loss efforts: When your body lacks energy and you need a boost, it sends its messenger, the neuropeptide, to tell you to eat carbs. Many of the phytoestrogens listed above are carbohydrates, so your body is effectively sabotaging your efforts to lose chest fat by eating the very foods that can accumulate it in susceptible people. From the list above, many of those foods also fall under acid-containing foods. This is especially true of cereals and grains, cherries, legumes, and beans – they provide the link between foods that make the body’s pH more acidic and how this can cause the body to store fat. on the chest.
